When the movie of “The Bourne Identity” was announced, it seemed that
Universal’s gears had slipped a cog. The Robert Ludlum novel had
already been done as a TV miniseries in 1988. And Matt Damon as the
lead? Give us a break—Matt Damon, action star. Hardy har har.

Then the movie was released and the laughter was silenced at once.
Damon, it turned out, was perfectly cast as Jason Bourne, the man who’d
lost most of his memories, but none of the skills he’d been taught so
expensively. Doug Liman, best known for “Swingers,” proved to be the
right man to direct the intricate, fast-paced movie. It was a hit
world-wide and produced two sequels of almost the same quality—some say
they’re even better than “Identity.”

Liman directed from a tight, well-plotted script by Tony Gilroy and W.
Blake Herron; it’s so involving that it’s easy to watch several times.
This well-produced high-definition DVD presents the film in splendid
form, and it’s loaded with extras as well. It’s one of the best
packages in high definition so far—a very good movie in excellent shape
with interesting added material.

The opening sequence is almost hypnotic. An Italian fishing boat
discovers a man floating far out at sea in the Mediterranean, lost and
alone on a stormy night. He’s given care as good as possible under the
circumstances, but when he awakes, he’s forgotten his past. He doesn’t
remember his name, why he was out there in the sea, what he does, where
he’s from. To his surprise, he discovers he’s fluent in several
languages. A small device is found under his skin that projects a Swiss
bank account number.

Once ashore, he heads for Switzerland. He was given money by the kind
captain of the fishing boat, but he’s out of funds now, and resorts to
sleeping in the park. When he’s rousted by a pair of cops, without
choosing to he switches to combat mode, disarms them both, knocks one
unconscious and takes the other’s gun. Stunned, shocked by what he’s
done—and by the skills he shows—he makes his escape.

The story begins cutting between this guy, who learns his name is Jason
Bourne, and a CIA group back in the United States. We soon learn Bourne
was part of a covert operation known as Treadstone, run by Alexander
Conklin (Chris Cooper) under the direction of Ward Abbott (Brian Cox).
Both are certain Bourne is likely to expose their covert—and
illegal—operation, and so put measures in action intended to dispose of
him. Among those sent after him is a music teacher (Clive Owen) whose
name we never know, but who seems as adept as Bourne.

Who, meanwhile, has accessed that Swiss account and found a bushel of
money in many currencies, a handful of passports, also from many
countries, all of which feature his photo but each of which has a
different name. And there’s a gun, too. Complications ensue, and Bourne
has to flee.

In all three Bourne movies, one of the most interesting aspects is how
he can instantly access survival skills; he’s an extremely fast
thinker, but he never rushes, never outpaces himself. He’s always calm,
always in control—even if he has no idea yet how he got these skills,
and what he was intended to use them for.

He hooks up with Maria Kreutz (Franka Potente), fluent in English,
mostly because she has a Mini Cooper and the ability to drive to
Paris—that bank safe deposit box also revealed he had a Parisian
address. She’s swept into the events, and she and Bourne grow attracted
to one another.

The movie flows swiftly and steadily, and Bourne begins regaining
fragments of memory. We learn before he does that he’s somehow
connected to shrewd African politician/power figure Nykwana Wombosi
(Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje). But assassins are on Bourne’s trail.

By the end of the film, Bourne does learn enough about his past to know
he wants a very different future. Conklin describes him as a
“malfunctioning thirty million dollar weapon,” but Bourne wants to put
himself on the shelf, to get away from the world of international
espionage. Tension builds as that music teacher closes in on him.

Most of “The Bourne Identity” takes place in Europe—all over Europe—in
the winter; the cinematography by Owen Wood is crisp, detailed and
monotone—it’s anything but a beautiful movie. But it’s a very handsome
one, and is extremely well-presented in this high definition DVD.
Details are important in Bourne’s world, and they’re important in how
we see his world—the tiny click of a gun sight being focused, the thin
stalks of tall winter grass, the rocks on a distant hillside, the
fragments of shattered windows. This DVD presents them all in almost
palpable clarity, but Liman never lets his movie be bogged down in
visual or plot details. Like Bourne, the story keeps moving steadily
forward; it’s as quick and determined as its subject.

The many supplements reveal, somewhat surprisingly, that despite its
map-hopping plot, “The Bourne Identity” was not an expensive film. It
was produced by experienced Frank Marshall, a long-time Spielberg
associate who knows how to stretch a dollar (or a franc or a
deutschmark). When a decision was made to change the opening and
closing sequences, Marshall found a way to do it. Near the end, there’s
a terse, brutal fight on a staircase in a Parisian apartment
building—and it’s a stunner to learn there WAS no staircase. All that
was built was the upper landing; everything else was computer graphics.

The commentary track by Doug Liman is mostly standard, with few major
surprises. He identifies which sequences were on stages, which on
location, and frequently praises the casting directors he used. He’s
also full of compliments for stunt coordinator Nick Powell, which is
hardly surprising, considering how well the stunt sequences are
handled. Liman becomes more adept and interesting as the commentary
track continues, making it puzzling that he was not involved in the two
Bourne sequels. (Instead, he made “Mr. and Mrs. Smith.”) There is
another puzzle: he talks about the cast from time to time, but
never—ever—says a word about Clive Owen.

The various featurettes are unexceptional but interesting. Three of
them are devoted to the career of the late Robert Ludlum, each keyed by
title to one of the Bourne films, so some of this material is quite
new. There are some surprising interviewees, such as actor James Karen,
who knew Ludlum back when both of them were young actors at large in
New York. Others who talk about Ludlum include his agent Henry
Morrison, as well as Jeffrey Weiner, Eric Van Lustbader (who continued
the Bourne novels after Ludlum’s death), Martin Greenberg, Frank
Marshall, and finally, Doug Liman and Paul Greengrass, the director of
the second two Bourne movies. Liman amusingly describes Ludlum’s books
as being among those “bumpy-covered novels” you buy at airports as
you’re boarding a flight.

As usual, it’s obvious why the deleted scenes were removed—they
generally include material explained or depicted better in other
scenes. But there’s a longer scene at a farmhouse, in which we see that
Bourne is interested in and protective of children, which helps in
explaining why what led to his amnesia happened in the first place.

There’s also a very standard “making of” documentary of relatively
little interest, and “The Bourne Mastermind,” yet another featurette on
Ludlum that duplicates some material from the first three. There’s a
little here about the other two Bourne movies, but virtually no mention
of “The Bourne Identity” miniseries, and not a single word that Richard
Chamberlain played Bourne in that production.

“The Bourne Identity” is a satisfying, entertaining and intelligent
action film, with a strong personal story (which the next two lacked,
but this is not a weakness). This high definition DVD is an ideal way
to own this movie.